Iron Man
Iron Man is the first film (second chronologically) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was released May 2, 2008. Cast Heroes *Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man Villains *Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger *Sayed Badreya as Abu Bakar *Faran Tahir as Raza *Fahim Fazli as Omar Civilians *Terrence Howard as James "Rhodey" Rhodes *Gwyneth Paltrow as Virginia "Pepper" Potts *Shaun Toub as Ho Yinsen *Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson *Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan *Paul Bettany as J.A.R.V.I.S. (voice only) *Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury *Gerard Sanders as Howard Stark *Leslie Bibb as Christine Everhart *Bill Smitrovich as General Gabriel *Micah A. Hauptman as Lacy *Nazanin Boniadi as Amira Ahmed *Ghostface Killah as Dubai Tycoon *Tom Morello as Insurgent *Stan Lee as "Hugh Hefner" Plot Playboy and industrial genius Tony Stark, who has inherited the defense contractor Stark Industries from his father, is in war-torn Afghanistan with his friend and military liaison, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes to demonstrate the new "Jericho" missile. Stark is critically wounded in an ambush and imprisoned in a cave by the terrorist group the Ten Rings. An electromagnet built by fellow captive Dr. Ho Yinsen keeps the shrapnel that wounded Stark from reaching his heart and killing him. The Ten Rings leader, Raza offers Stark freedom in exchange for building a Jericho missile for the group, but Tony and Yinsen agree that Raza will not keep his word. Stark and Yinsen secretly build a powerful electric generator called an Arc Reactor, to power Stark's electromagnet, and then begin to build a suit of armor to escape. The Ten Rings attack the workshop when they discover Stark's plan, but Yinsen sacrifices himself to divert them while Stark's suit powers up. The armored Stark battles his way out of the cave to find the dying Yinsen, an enraged Stark then burns the terrorist's munitions stockpile and flies away, only to crash in the desert, destroying his suit. After being rescued by Rhodes, Stark returns home and announces that his company will no longer manufacture weapons. Obadiah Stane, his father's old partner and the company's manager, advises Stark that this may ruin Stark Industries and his father's legacy. In his home workshop, Stark builds an improved version of his suit, as well as a more powerful arc reactor for his chest. At Stark's first public appearance after his return, reporter Christine Everhart informs him that Stark Industries weapons, including the Jericho missile, were recently delivered to the Ten Rings and are being used to attack Yinsen's home village. Stark also learns that Stane is trying to replace him as head of the company. Enraged, Stark dons his new armor and flies to Afghanistan, where he saves Yinsen's village. While flying home, Stark is shot at by two F-22 Raptor fighter jets. He phones Rhodes and reveals his secret identity in an attempt to end the attack. Meanwhile, the Ten Rings gathers the pieces of Stark's prototype suit and meet with Stane, who has the group eliminated. He has a new suit reverse engineered from the wreckage. Seeking to find any other weapons delivered to the Ten Rings, Stark sends assistant Virginia "Pepper" Potts to hack into the company computer system from Stane's office. She discovers Stane has been supplying the terrorists and hired the Ten Rings to kill Stark, but the group reneged. Potts later meets with agent Phil Coulson of the "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division", a counter-terrorism agency, to inform him of Stane's activities. Stane's scientists reveal that they cannot duplicate Stark's arc reactor, so Stane ambushes Stark at his home, using a sonic device to paralyze him and take his arc reactor. Left to die, Stark manages to crawl to his lab and saves his life by re-using his original arc reactor. Potts and several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents attempt to arrest Stane, but he dons his suit and attacks them. Stark fights Stane, but is outmatched without his new reactor to run his suit at full capacity. Stark lures Stane atop the Stark Industries building and instructs Potts to overload the large arc reactor there. This unleashes a massive electrical surge that knocks Stane unconscious, causing him and his armor to fall into the exploding reactor, killing him. The next day, the press has dubbed the armored hero "Iron Man". Agent Coulson gives Stark a cover story to explain the events of the night and Stane's death. At a press conference, Stark begins giving the cover story, but then announces that he is Iron Man. In a post-credits scene, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury visits Stark at home, and, noting that Iron Man is not "the only superhero in the world", says he wants to discuss the "Avengers Initiative". Connections to other films To Captain America: The First Avenger *Captain America's shield is seen in Tony's working area *Howard Stark, Tony's father, worked on the Manhattan Project, which gave Steve Rogers a.k.a. Captain America his powers To The Incredible Hulk *Nick Fury talks to Tony about the Avengers Initiative, which Tony would go on to do in the Incredible Hulk Trivia *This is the first film in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. *This is the first, and last, time Terrence Howard portraying James Rhodes. **Thus, he has yet to be War Machine, as James Rhodes does not take on the role until the sequel. *Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, and Thor all take place in one week, called Fury's Big Week. Category:Film Category:Phase One: Avengers Assembled